HOW TO BE FILLED
WITH THE SPIRIT
DR. BILL BRIGHT
TRANSFERABLE CONCEPT THREE
During the depression, a man named Yates owned a
ranch in West Texas. Because he did not earn enough
money to make his ranching operation pay, Mr. Yates
was in danger of losing his ranch. His family, like
many others, had to live on government subsidy.
Day after day, as Mr. Yates grazed his sheep over those
rolling West Texas hills, he was no doubt greatly
troubled about how he would be able to meet his
financial obligations. Then a seismographic crew from
an oil company came into the area and told Mr. Yates
that they thought there might be oil on his land. They
asked permission to drill a wildcat well and he signed
a lease contract.
At 1,115 feet they struck a huge oil reserve. The first
well came in at 80,000 barrels a day. Many subsequent
wells were more than twice as large. And Mr. Yates
owned it all! The day he purchased the land, he
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received the oil and mineral rights. Yet, he had been
HOW TO BE F IL LE D WI TH TH E S P IR IT
living on relief—a multimillionaire living in poverty.
The problem? He did not know the oil was there. He
owned it, but he did not possess it.
I do not know of a better illustration of the Christian
life than this. The moment we become children of God
through faith in Christ, we become heirs of God, and
all of His divine supernatural resources are made
available to us. Everything we need including wisdom,
love, power to be men and women of God, and to be
fruitful witnesses for Christ, is available to us. But
most Christians continue to live in self-imposed
spiritual poverty, because they do not know how to
appropriate from God those spiritual resources which
are already theirs.
It is useless to try to live in our own power the kind of
life God has commanded us to live. Our strength must
come from the Lord! The Holy Spirit came to enable
us to know Christ. When we receive Christ into our
lives, we experience a new birth, and are indwelt by
the Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables us to live and share
the abundant life which Jesus promised to all who
trust Him.
LACK OF FAITH
Many Christians are not filled with the Spirit because
of a lack of knowledge. Unbelief keeps others from
experiencing the abundant life. There are still other
Christians who may have been exposed to the truth
concerning the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit
but who, for various reasons, have never been able to
comprehend the love of God. They are afraid of Him.
They simply do not trust Him.
Suppose, when my two sons were young, they had
greeted me with these words: “Daddy, we love you and
have decided that we will do any thing you want us to
do from now on as long as we live.” What do you think
would have been my attitude?
If I had responded to their expression of trust in
me, as many believe God will respond when they
surrender their lives to Him, I would have taken my
sons by the shoulders, shaken them, glared at them
sternly and said, “I have just been waiting for this. I
am going to make you regret this decision for as long
as you live. I am going to take all the fun out of your
lives, give away your toys, and make you do all the
things you do not like to do.”
Many people believe that this is the way God will
respond when they say, “Lord, I surrender the control
 of my life to You.” They do not understand how much
God loves them. Do you know what I would do if my
sons came to me with such a greeting? I would put
my arms around them and say, “I love you, too, and I
deeply appreciate this expression of your love for me.
It is the greatest gift which you could give me and I
want to do everything in my power to merit your love
and trust.”
Is God any less loving and concerned for His children?
No. He has proved over and over again that He is a
loving God, our heavenly Father, who cares deeply for
His children. He is worthy of our trust.
FILLED BY FAITH
How can one be filled with the Holy Spirit? We are
filled with the Spirit by faith. We received Christ by
faith. We walk by faith. Everything we receive from
God, from the moment of our spiritual birth until we
die, is by faith. Do you want to be filled with the Holy
Spirit? You can be filled right now, wherever you are,
by faith.
You do not have to beg God to fill you with His Holy
Spirit. You do not have to barter with Him by fasting,
weeping, begging, or pleading. For a long time I fasted,
prayed, and cried out to God for His fullness. Then
one day I discovered from the Scriptures that the “just
shall live by faith.”1 We do not earn God’s fullness.
We receive it by faith. Suppose that you want to cash
a check for a hundred dollars. Would you go to the
bank where you have several thousand dollars on
deposit, place the check on the counter, get down on
your knees, and say, “Oh, please, Mr. Teller, cash my
check?” No, that is not the way you cash a check. You
simply go in faith, place the check on the counter, and
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wait for the money which is already yours. Then you
H OW TO BE F IL L ED W IT H T HE S P IR IT
thank the teller and go on your way.
Millions of Christians are begging God, as I once did,
for something which is already available just waiting
to be appropriated by faith. They are seeking some
kind of emotional experience, not realizing that such
an attitude on their part is an insult to God—a denial
of the faith by which we please God. In Hebrews 11:6
we are told, “Without faith it is impossible to please
God....
HEART PREPARATION
Though you are filled with the Holy Spirit by faith and
faith alone, it is important to recognize that several
factors contribute to preparing your heart for the
filling of the Spirit.
First, you must hunger and thirst after God and desire
to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We have the promise
of our Savior, “Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.”2
Second, be willing to surrender your life to Christ in
accordance with Paul’s admonition in Romans 12:1,
2 (Living Bible): “And so, dear brothers, I plead with
you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living
sacrifice, holy—the kind He can accept.” When you
think of what He has done for you, is this too much
to ask? Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this
world, but be a new and different person with a fresh
newness in all you do and think. Then you will learn
from your own experience, how His ways will really
satisfy you.
Third, confess every known sin which the Holy Spirit
brings to your remembrance, and experience the
cleansing and forgiveness which God promises in I
John 1:9 (LB): “But if we confess our sins to Him, He
can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us
from every wrong. And it is perfectly proper for God
to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our
sins.”
COMMAND AND PROMISE
There are two very important words to remember.
The first is “command.” In Ephesians 5:18 (KJV) God
commands us to be filled: “Be not drunk with wine,
wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.” Not
to be filled, controlled and empowered by the Holy
Spirit is disobedience. The other word is “promise,” a
promise that makes the command possible: “This is
the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we
ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And
if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask we
know that we have the requests which we have asked
from Him.”
Now, is it God’s will for you to be filled, controlled
and empowered by the Holy Spirit? Of course it is His
will, for it is His command. Right now, then, you can
ask God the Holy Spirit to fill you not because you
deserve to be filled, but on the basis of His command
and promise.
If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit already dwells
within you. Therefore, you do not need to invite Him
 to come into your life. The moment you received
Christ, the Holy Spirit not only came to indwell you,
but He imparted to you spiritual life, causing you to
be born anew as a child of God. The Holy Spirit also
baptized you into the body of Christ. In I Corinthians
12:13, Paul explains, “For by one Spirit we are all
baptized into one body.”
There is but one indwelling of the Holy Spirit, one
rebirth of the Holy Spirit, and one baptism of the
Holy Spirit— all of which occur the moment you
receive Christ. There are many fillings, as is made
clear in Ephesians 5:18. In the Greek language in
which the New Testament was originally written, the
meaning is clearer than in most English translations.
This command of God means to be constantly and
continually filled, controlled, and empowered with
the Holy Spirit as a way of life.
or not. Do not depend on emotions. We are to live by
faith, not feelings.
You can begin this very moment to draw upon the
vast, inexhaustible resources of the Holy Spirit to
enable you to live a holy life, and to share the claims
of the Lord Jesus and His love and forgiveness with
men everywhere. Remember that being filled with the
Holy Spirit is a way of life. We are commanded to be
constantly controlled by the Holy Spirit. Thank Him
for the fullness of His Spirit as you begin each day and
continue to invite Him to control your life moment by
moment. This is your heritage as a child of God.
Endnotes
1 Galatians 3:11, King James
2 Matthew 5:6
3 1John 5:14,15

If you wish to be technical, you do not need to pray Adapted from How to Be Filled With the Spirit
to be filled with the Holy Spirit, as there is no place Copyrighted 1971, 1998 by Bill Bright, NewLife
in Scripture where we are told to pray for the filling Publications, Campus Crusade for Christ. All
of the Holy Spirit. We are filled by faith. However, rights reserved. Used by permission.
since the object of our faith is God and His Word, I
suggest that you pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit
as an expression of your faith in God’s command and
in His promise. You are not filled because you pray,
but because by faith you trust God to fill you with His
Spirit in response to your faith.

How you met God’s conditions? Do you hunger and Dr. Bill Bright was the founder of Campus Crusade
thirst after righteousness? Have you confessed every for Christ International.
known sin in your life? Do you sincerely desire to be
controlled and empowered by the Holy Spirit? If so, I
invite you to bow and pray a prayer of faith right now.
Claim the fullness of the Holy Spirit by faith.
3

“Dear Father, I need You. I acknowledge that I have

H OW TO B E F IL L ED WI T H T HE S P IR IT

been in control of my life and that, as a result, I have

sinned against You. I thank you that You have forgiven
my sins through Christ’s death on the cross for me. I
now invite Christ to take control of the throne of my life.
Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to
be filled and as You promised in Your Word that You
would do if I asked in faith. I pray this in the authority
of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. As an expression
of my faith, I now thank you for filling me with Your
Holy Spirit and taking control of my life.”

If this prayer expressed the desire of your heart, and

you met God’s conditions of heart preparation, you
can be sure that God has answered you.3 You are now
filled with the Holy Spirit whether you “feel” like it